Shutting down 2022

 Today was a day for shutting down the last vestiges of 2022. There was little that had to be achieved but several things to tie up. The first of these was to have a lie-in, and so it was that the Gorse Fox didn't reach out for coffee until 7:45.

With coffee sorted, newspapers (is there a better noun for an agglomeration of news articles consumed electronically via the web?) read, and breakfast sorted, the Gorse Fox joined the Zoom call with his cousins. The eldest (Sam) of the next generation of these cousins hit 50 today, so that was the focus of the call; well that and Covid which has struck Sarah over Christmas.

The rest of the day has seen the first entries in the new blog from contributors other than the Gorse Fox. This is exciting but now he knows that it is accessible and working, the Gorse Fox has to privatise the blog so that only members can view it. He has no doubt that this will cause problems for some, but it should allow us to talk freely without worries of GDPR etc.

The Gorse Fox has spent the afternoon reading while the Silver Vixen has been sorting out and cutting out patterns for her next project.

The best news of the day was that Old Bill has been released from hospital and is back home. The Gorse Fox  is not sure any of us expected him to recover this quickly, but the surgeon and the team at the hospital were happy for him to go home.

As things stand, we are not planning to see the New Year in.

Cards

 There was a very wet start to the day, but it seems to have dried up during the afternoon. The Gorse Fox had a lie-in this morning, not rising until nearly 7:30. He was aware that he had had some bizarre dreams during the night, but by the time he made some coffee they had melted away.

We had agreed to take Lady Penelope in to St Richard's Hospital at 10:00. She was visiting Old Bill but had a prior appointment with the nurses to learn about the care he would need. Since then we have heard that, with a following wind, he could be home tomorrow - much to everyone's amazement.

We went on to Chichester from the hospital. The Silver Vixen has received a new debit card from the bank and we cannot seem to get it to activate. We dropped in to Nat West and chatted with the chap there. A new PIN has been requested and hopefully that will sort everything out.

The rest of the day has been remarkably quiet. The Gorse Fox finished his 97th book since the summer and started on the 98th. The 98th is a new author (to the Gorse Fox) and the start of another series. The Silver Vixen carried on working through her current book.

The other distraction, today, has been a flurry of emails from the Band of Brothers regarding pictures and memories from our collective youth. Despite the original saying, nostalgia IS what it is cracked up to be.

Quiet, so quiet

 It was long after 7:00 before Ellie appeared in our bedroom. "Grandpa, my clock says it is after 7 and the light has turned green" she announced. The Gorse Fox replied "That's fine, you can sit and watch the iPad as there is no hurry today" and so she went back to her room and we had another15 minutes in bed.

Pistol Pete was coming to pick Ellie up at 10:00, so we (by that, assume the Silver Vixen) had to ensure she was washed and dressed in plenty of time. While they were going through their ablutions, the Gorse Fox took care of the Ocado delivery. When Ellie emerged she made straight for her new desk and chair and sat there colouring until Pistol Pete arrived.

The rest of the morning was occupied with a trip to Sainsbury's and some research as to how the Silver Vixen and Cousteau-Cub can best get up to London at the end of next week (given that the best paid railway worker in Europe are on strike for more money and no changes to their ridiculously cushy working conditions).

We both spent the afternoon with our books until Ellie was dropped back. She immediately returned to her desk where she switched on her tablet and proceeded to explore until she found an app that made fart noises. That was it. She was amused from then until Urban-Cub came to collect her.

Day Out

 We had been invited to Jane and Trevor's for lunch. Cousteau-Cub and Ellie would be coming with us... even though it did involve venturing into bandit country. We collected Ellie, loading the car with iPads and bags full of food before stopping off in Chichester to pick up Cousteau-Cub. The weather was absolutely foul but fortunately the roads weren't too busy.

Young Mask was at home when we got there and immediately started to entertain Ellie. They dug out an old bag of Lego and Ellie insisted they build a defence against lava. The Mask, Ellie, and Cousteau-Cub were spread across the floor with piles of Lego as Ellie gave her instructions. 

The rest of us got on with general family chat, news, medical conditions, gardening, iPhones and computers. These subjects seemed to be the basis for most of the day as they were revisited at intervals. 

Jane had laid on a feast, as usual. Everyone tucked in, and Ellie continued her food marathon for the day. Just as the needle was pointing at "Full" on the gauge, she then trotted out with cheesecakes, crumble, jelly and various custards and creams. Gauge had to be reset so that the feast could continue.

After lunch, there was an exchange of presents, lots more chat, and lots of tea. Possibly, there was too much tea as, despite a pre-journey comfort break,  the Gorse Fox was bursting by the time we dropped Cousteau-Cub off. We had set off homewards at about 18:30 and had a fairly clear run. The Gorse Fox did, however, have a momentary lapse of concentration and ended up going north on the A3 instead of south. This meant a 5 mile detour - but at least the traffic was light. We dropped Cousteau-Cub off, then went home. Ellie was staying with us overnight. She was no trouble, and had been immensely well-behaved all day.

And breathe

 The Gorse Fox had set his alarm. He was expecting Ellie to be dropped off... nobody had told him that there were other plans. Oh well!

It has been a very quiet day. During the morning we pottered around the house tidying away the various items of cutlery, crockery, food, and heavens knows what else, left from yesterday. Eventually, everything was straight once more (well, at least until the decorations come down next week).

The Gorse Fox settled down with the shopping list for Ocado. He did the first pass and left the Silver Vixen to polish off the bits he missed. He then settled down with his books. After lunch (cold meat from yesterday) he took Lady Penelope to the hospital to visit Old Bill. It sounds as if he is well on the route to recovery and he is aiming to be home for his birthday at the end of next week. That is still seen as immensely optimistic, but it is amazing what the physios can do.

The Silver Vixen came with the Gorse Fox when we went back to collect Lady Penelope, but then we both sat down with our books for the rest of the afternoon.

Family (all)

 Boxing Day saw the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen hosting the family. Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit would be joining us today, and of course Urban-Cub, Ellie, and Darren would be here.

The Gorse Fox had the menu planned and (needless to say) a spreadsheet printed out with all of the calculated timings for the preparation of lunch. He didn't want to overdo it this year so limited food to that which would feed the six adults, Ellie, and any passing regiment of the British Army. 

Both ovens and the Air Fryer were pressed into service. Vegetables were prepared, carrots were cooked in butter and sugar, 2.5kgs of potatoes were roasted (a further pack of 2.5kgs of potatoes had been kept on standby in case the Gorse Fox's nephew - the Mask - should turn up, not that he was expected, but you can't be too careful). All of the vegetables were done, the ham, the turkey, and a side of salmon. 

We sat done and tucked in.

The Gorse Fox was blessed. He had his whole family round him. Better still, as he had cooked, they did the clearing up!

After lunch was over we dealt with the presents. Ellie, who can now read fairly well, checked the labels handed and them out. We were all immensely lucky and received some wonderful and well considered gifts. 

Once all of the paper was cleared away and there was some visible floor space, the game Twister was laid out and while the Gorse Fox or Silver Vixen spun the wheel, we watched as others tied themselves in knots on the floor.

By early evening, everyone had headed home. As far as we could tell nobody required hospitalisation as a result of Twister and the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen finished tidying around and settled down for a quiet evening in front of the TV.

Family (part) and Friends

 The big day had arrived. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen had been invited to Urban-Cub and Ellie's for Christmas lunch so we had a fairly leisurely morning. Because Cousteau-Cub had been on night duty, she and the Coventry Hobbit wouldn't be joining us - but we will make up for that tomorrow.

Ellie had been with Pistol Pete overnight and was dropped back home late morning. We turned up soon after. Considering Urban-Cub's is a fairly small house, she had arranged it so that we could all sit round a couple of round tables laid in a figure of eight. 

Darren's mum and step-dad arrived and the festivities began. We had met Barb (Darren's mum) in the past - an absolutely lovely woman - but had never met David before. He was nothing like the image that the Gorse Fox had created in his mind. As he owns a civil engineering firm, the Gorse Fox had an image of a big bull of a man, whereas he looked as if he would be more at home behind the boardroom table of a consulting firm. We got on like a house on fire.

As usual, Urban-Cub laid on an absolute feast, with Darren helping as sous chef. We had all of the traditional Christmas food and all the accompanying trimmings (including some Yorkshire puddings the size of a small county).

Christmas presents were focused on Ellie, obviously. She seemed to gain several more Barbie dolls. (Heaven alone knows how many she has now). She also got a 2-wheeled scooter (as opposed to the 3-wheeled variety she has been riding).

By late afternoon it was all getting a bit much for Ellie, Barb and David said their goodbyes and headed off home. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox left soon after. Ellie was going to need a good night's sleep as tomorrow it all begins again.

Merry Christmas

 Have a happy and Holy Christmas 

Twas the Night before Christmas

If you are expecting a poem (given the title of the post) - forget it. The Gorse Fox has not been inspired. 

The day started with the usual cousins' call, though it did include some cousins that the Gorse Fox had not previously met. It was lovely that the extended family should continue to chat despite the distance between us.

Once the call was done, the Gorse Fox prepared the gammon and put it in the oven for the next three and a half hours. When it was finally done, it was wrapped in foil and allowed to cool slowly throughout the afternoon. Meanwhile, the Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox cleared the worktops and set about wrapping all of the Christmas presents. It only took a couple of hours which was a great relief considering it often continued into the early hours in days gone by. (Though, not having any little ones with us made a huge difference as to when we could start).

With everything under control, we retired to the lounge and spent the afternoon with our books.

As an aside, the Gorse Fox has been trying to get the new blog's other contributors set up properly. It appears that what works for a test account, hasn't worked for their accounts. He suspects this is a Google problem... and awaits a comment from the experts. 

Blog blogged

 Ellie was dropped off soon after 7:00 this morning. The Gorse Fox had forgotten to set his alarm but woke during the night in order to check the plumbing. The alarm popped into his mind and before he returned to bed, he sorted it out for the correct time.

The Silver Vixen had an appointment at the hairdresser during the morning. Ellie was left in charge with strict instructions from the Silver Vixen to make sure grandpa behaved and didn't get into any mischief. 

As if he would!

Once the Silver Vixen was home, the Gorse Fox headed off to Lidl in Shripney. He was after their crackling covered stuffing rings. Clearly so had everyone else. Like Urban-Cub's Chichester store, they were out. He made do with a pizza for Christmas Eve and some Stilton for the evenings after Christmas. Despite his worst fears, the store was almost deserted. Clearly, his trip to Sainsbury's yesterday had been peak moron shopping time.

We had a quiet couple of hours with Ellie entertained by her iPad, then playing hide and seek, then some colouring, and finally some "word search" and "spot the difference" games.

While she was entertained by the iPad, the Gorse Fox managed to complete the write-up for his new blog's contributors. As all of them were unfamiliar with blogging, the Gorse Fox had to provide a complete dummy's introduction to help them get started. Once this was published and publicised, he actually wrote his first entry in the blog in question. Before you go searching - it is a private blog and unless you too spent several monastic years in the 1960's and have been invited to contribute, it is pointless. It is private.

We spent the afternoon watching some kids films with Ellie before getting her dinner and preparing her to go to Pistol Pete until Christmas Day. 

Behind You

Ellie was perfectly happy to amuse herself with her iPad until we got up at very respectable 7:30. The Gorse Fox was a man on a mission. There was the weekly shop, combined with the Christmas shop, to do. As soon as he was suitably caffeinated and sustained with some scrambled eggs, he donned his survival gear and headed to Sainsbury’s.

The store was quieter than expected, possibly because it was only 9:00. As the Gorse Fox shopped, it did start to build up. Not in the usual way, where single shoppers or pairs of shoppers wandered round in an ordinary fashion. No today they seemed to have invaded in huge family groups so that they could block the aisles while standing around debating who would eat what and who likes what. Despite this, the Gorse Fox completed his task within an hour, cashed his Nectar points and headed for the car.

The Gorse Fox is very proud of himself - despite every temptation, he did not “go postal”, he did not use the trolley as a battering ram, he did not scream at the zombies as they wandered aimlessly around the store. There were no arrests and he was not carted away in a straight-jacket.

Back home, Ellie was counting down to 3 o’clock. Every few minutes she would check how much longer it was… and there were several hours to go. We kept her occupied with “hide and seek” and “hunt the egg”. Eventually, it was time so we headed into Bognor.

We had tickets for the pantomime “Beauty and the Beast” at the Alexandra Theatre on the seafront. We arrived in plenty of time and had some excellent seats. (Having said that, all the seats have a brilliant view and the seats are quite comfy). Ellie was a bit subdued. She was worried that she would be frightened by the Beast. 

When the show started, it was very loud, and she wasn’t too happy. After about the first 20 minutes or so, she started to relax and get into the story. She started to join in and laugh, dance, and shout. The spell was broken and she really enjoyed it in the end. To be fair, we too enjoyed it. There was plenty of subtle humour for the adults as well as the more slapstick humour for the little ones.

We dropped Ellie back home after the show, and after a quick drink, went home ourselves for a quiet evening.

Shelved

 The Gorse Fox hates the floating shelves that are so frequently displayed in DIY stores. He has never had a shelf that has remained level over any length of time. So it was that the small shelf under the kitchen TV started. to droop at the front. Enough was enough. New supports were delivered yesterday and this morning, the old shelf was removed and the replacement installed. Much to the amazement of all concerned, all the plugs and connections were correctly replaced and everything worked!

A WhatsApp discussion last night commented that many of the memories that we share would be better placed in some repository that people could read through. The Gorse Fox took this as a challenge and suggested a blog. There seemed to be a consensus, so the Gorse Fox has set up a new blog which supports multiple authors and a defined readership. It will take a while to document everything in such a way that it can be understood by one and all, but that's a challenge for another day.

We've had Ellie here this afternoon and she will be staying overnight. The local Rotary or Lions are coming round with their Santa Sleigh this evening. The Gorse Fox has instructions to video the whole shebang.

Chichester

 Our tour of Sussex Cities continued today with a trip into Chichester. It had been a very leisurely start to the day but once we were on the launchpad, there was no stopping us.

We shot round to the pharmacy, queued, and eventually were told to return tomorrow as some of the meds wouldn't be available until then. No problem. The Silver Vixen was not desperate.

We then headed for Chichester. Parking was a bit of a nightmare, but once that was sorted we wandered in to town and stopped at the jewellers. Unfortunately, there was nothing there that caught the Silver Vixen's eye. We strolled on. Other shops were exposed and Boots was raided. We then headed for our favourite jeweller. Not even he could offer something that suited the Silver Vixen's requirement. We raided `Sea Salt" and clutching the relevant purchases we crossed the road for coffee and a snack.

Once home, the Gorse Fox updated the various cards that Silver Vixen had stored on her iPhone. This had just saved some money in Boots, so the Gorse Fox was intent on making sure the Silver Vixen had all the various loyalty cards on her phone in case, like today, she had come out without her wallet.

The rest of the afternoon was spent reading up until dinner. Tonight was a concoction made from the leftover pork from Sunday with chorizo, chickpeas, and a tomato sauce. All of this was served with tagliatelle. It was, unexpectedly, delicious.

Brighton

Gosh we had a lot of rain today. The temperature, however, has soared to about 12C, which is a huge leap from last week.

The Gorse Fox took the opportunity to walk into the village and get his hair cut. He clearly timed it to perfection (other than getting soaked) as he was able to sit straight down in the chair and be seen immediately. There was a steady stream of punters arriving and by the time he left, all the barbers were working flat out and all the seats in the waiting area were taken.

Mid afternoon we headed across to Brighton to spend some time with the Silver Vixen's cousins and aunt. The traffic wasn't as bad as expected, but the weather was foul. We had a lovely few hours with them and enjoyed some fish and chips from their local chippie. We heard all about their recent holiday in Singapore and Langkawi. It did sound very nice, and the thought of Singapore is quite enticing... though Langkawi less so.

The Beautiful Game

 The Gorse Fox was up first. It seemed remarkable dark and dingy today, much like the Gorse Fox assumes life up North to be. Rain was forecast, but it hadn't yet arrived. The Gorse Fox had football scheduled so pottered off to Ford just after 9:00.

The lads trickled in and paid their subs. The Gorse Fox allocated them to their teams (as selected by his algorithm). It looked as if it would be close today. The game followed the expected plan. It was close. At half time the yellow team were 4-3 up (1 goal from the Gorse Fox in Orange, in the first half). By the end of a very intense and hard fought second half, the final score was 9-9. The Gorse Fox had contributed 2 further goal, and missed a penalty.

Once home and showered we had a little shopping to collect. This took longer than expected but was immensely successful. Once home, the Silver Vixen returned to the Christmas decorations while the Gorse Fox prepared everything for this evening dinner.

While dinner was cooking, we watched the World Cup Final. The Gorse Fox must put his cards on the table. Despite his attitude towards the French (he won't even drink French wine) - he really wanted France to win. He hates, with a passion, the lionisation of Argentina who are thugs in football kits and utilise all of the dar arts to con the referee and interrupt the game. Argentina won. The Gorse Fox is sorry that bad sportsmanship  is rewarded... and the referee was too much of a coward to hand out the punishments that would have been dealt in another level of the game.

Lights

The Gorse Fox was up soon after 7:00. It had been cold overnight but the forecast suggested that it would be milder today, He had the usual call with the cousins. This included, for once, the widow of the cousin who was closest in age and whose Godfather had been the Gorse Fox's dad. She had just arrived in Australia after 26+ hour journey from Wheathampstead.

Once the call was over, the Gorse Fox moved the car out and dug the Christmas decorations out of storage in the garage and the loft. Lights were set up, the Christmas tree was erected, and the Silver Vixen was left to her own devices. There was nothing the Gorse Fox could do that wouldn't be undone and redone.

This afternoon we have enjoyed a couple of hours in front of the TV watching Croatia beat Morocco 2-1 in the third place playoffs for the 2022 World Cup. As far as the Gorse Fox was concerned, this was the ideal result. Hopefully, tomorrow's final will also finish in a win for the Gorse Fox's preferred team. (He really hates to put this on record, but he wants France to win - given that the alternative is cheating team from Argentina. Now that this is on record, he has no doubt that the opposite result will prevail. 

Not quite

 We had a very lazy start to the day. The Gorse Fox didn't stir until nearly 8:00 - this is almost unprecedented. While he was making the coffee the Silver Vixen tottered down for some tea.

When we were finally ready to address the day we laid into the remaining Christmas cards. 

The Silver Vixen dealt with her family and girlfriends and the Gorse Fox dealt with the neighbours and most of the virtual e-cards. After several hours, we were done. The Gorse Fox went and posted those cards that demand use of the postal service and later walked the local roads to hand deliver the cards for the neighbours. It was gloriously bright and crisp and an absolute pleasure to be out walking. It has been and remains so cold that the lake is frozen and looks wonderfully wintery.

Regular readers will know about the ongoing saga of the bathroom cabinet and its mirrors. We had finally been contacted by a supplier and they could provide the mirrors and their hinges, but the Gorse Fox would have to fit them. He paid the money and knew he would have to wait until this week for a delivery. Here we are six or eight weeks on and the delivery has taken place. New hinges have been supplied (or that's what the box says), and two new mirrors. The problem is (and you knew that there would be one, didn't you?) the mirrored doors are 600 x 604mm. So? Well they should be 1000 x 595mm. No amount of bodging by the Gorse Fox will hide that difference! The Gorse Fox contacted the supplier and, to be fair, they we immensely apologetic and have said they will resolve this and supply the correct doors - though it will be the New Year.

The Gorse Fox fears that tomorrow will see the decorations emerge from storage.

Social

 

Ellie pottered in to our room at 6:20 and the Gorse Fox said that she could watch her tablet until 7:00. That gave us a little longer before greeting the day. 

This was the last day of the school term so Ellie was very excited. Today, they could wear their own clothes, rather than uniform. She had firm ideas about the fashion statement she was going to make and ensured that the Silver Vixen took a photo to send to Urban-Cub. The Gorse Fox is not sure how sensible the tu-tu was, but she could remove it for PE.

The rest of the morning followed the familiar patter for a Thursday. Ocado delivered and then we set off for Sainsbury's.

With all the shopping tucked away and clutching a cup of tea the Gorse Fox started on the Christmas cards (both physical and virtual). The list was already sorted but the labels were required. The Gorse Fox took copious notes last Christmas, intent that he would not have to struggle for half a day to get the label printing working. Much to his amazement, the notes corresponded with the MS Word software (they obviously forgot to screw things up again during the year). Labels printed successfully, first time.

Next on the agenda was the sending of a batch of e-Cards. He worked through the list and fired off most of the virtual cards that were needed - leaving a few for tomorrow.

This evening, the Gorse Fox had the Arun Amblers Christmas Social. He had debated taking the car, but wasn't happy about leaving it in a car park throughout the evening. In the end he phoned the local taxi company and decided to let them take the strain.

The Gorse Fox was the first to arrive at Mussel Row, on the banks of the Arun in LA. The restaurant is owned by the daughter-in-law of one of our players, and the chef is the son of another of our players. We were keeping it in the family!

Slowly the other old codgers arrived and the beer and wine began to flow. The food had been pre-selected to make this easier. The Gorse Fox had chosen a starter of  crispy chicken fillet with chickpea curry. The main dish was Tuscan Chicken with pasta and he finished off with Christmas pudding. The food was excellent.

The evening was great fun with a huge amount of banter and general nonsense being shared by all. 

The Gorse Fox's taxi arrived at 10:30.

Still concerning

We woke up this morning to hear that Old Bill had been taken to theatre overnight and may not survive. We were dreadfully concerned and the Silver Vixen volunteered to go a sit with Lady Penelope until one of their sons arrived. The offer was declined so she was still here when Ellie was dropped off at 7:15. We went through the usual morning paraphernalia and eventually dropped Ellie at school.

Back home we had a quiet morning wading through the last of the Christmas present lists and putting the onus on Amazon to deliver to us. The latest software was released by Apple for the iPhone, iPad, iWatch,  and iMac overnight. The Gorse Fox took the opportunity to get the changes installed across the board. 

Were finally got some news that Old ~Bill was out of surgery and that it had gone well. He would obviously be in ICU/HDU and that Lady Penelope and one of the sons would visit as soon as the hospital gave the go ahead.

We collected Ellie from school and she is quite excited that there is only one more day at school before the Christmas break. We've just finished dinner and the Silver Vixen is now helping her get washed and ready for bed.

Concerning

 It was another very cold night. Ellie slept through and checked with us that she could use her tablet at 6:30 before leaving us to doze until the Gorse Fox got up at 7:00. ~She was full of the joys of Spring and eager to play teachers. This involved here giving the Gorse Fox a series of "number sentences" to complete and her marking the results. The Gorse Fox has a feeling this should have worked the other way round, but it kept her happy and kept her thinking.

After the school drop, the Gorse Fox returned for breakfast. The Silver Vixen was scheduled to meet up with Gracie Fields for lunch and so she went to get ready while the Gorse Fox set about steam cleaning the floors. It ws as he finished this that the doorbell rang. It was Tinkerbell. She had knocked to say that Old Bill had been very unwell (probably a reaction to his Chemo) and that she and Two Hats had had to take them to the hospital. He was was kept in and they have set about stabilising his system. It is, obviously, concerning.

With the Silver Vixen out, the Gorse Fox spent some time filing and categorising a batch of photos. After lunch he settled down with his book until it was time to collect Ellie.

Ellie has clearly mastered the iPhone. Both the Silver Vixen and the Gorse Fox have received calls from her this evening on Urban-Cub's phone. Heaven help us if (or maybe when) she gets a phone of her own.

Icy

 It was very cold overnight. Parts of the south were hit by snow, but we don't tolerate such things here on our bit of Coast. The roads and pavements, however, were very icy. The Gorse Fox  wouldn't allow the Silver Vixen to go out alone, so took her for her morning appointment so that he could make sure she got there and back without any slips or upsets.

Ellie has recovered from her fever and infection and by the end of the weekend was back to her normal boisterous self. She was very eager to get to school and see what she had missed. We skated round to the school and dropped her off with her teacher.

A lot of the morning, once he had collected the Silver Vixen, was spent debating and reviewing the annual Christmas card lists. As usual, a few were weeded out, and the rest were categorised as Snd, Hand-deliver, or  (new to this year) send an E-card. The postal disruption is such that where an electronic card is possible, then it will be the default. The Gorse Fox renewed his lapsed subscription to Jacqui Lawson cards and sent a couple of test cards to check that it was all functioning as required. It is really rather good.

This afternoon the Gorse Fox left the Silver Vixen indoors while he went to collect Ellie from school. 

Once home she did some reading with the Silver Vixen and some number sentences with the Gorse Fox. A chicken curry was the order of the day for dinner - and she demolished the lot.

Ellie is in the bath now and will be in bed by 7:00. She is staying with us overnight.

Awake

The Silver Vixen had a bad night. She was still awake reading at 4:45 this morning. The Gorse Fox decided at 6:30 that he would sneak out of bed and settle downstairs so that she could rest. He had already decided that he wasn't playing football this morning. He had a slight temperature and explosive cold as the evening wore on yesterday. England being knocked out of the World Cup didn't exactly counteract the virus.

Much of the morning was spent drinking coffee and reading the Kindle until the Silver Vixen stirred.

By late morning the Silver Vixen was up and Urban-Cub arrived with Ellie in tow. She was clearly back up to 100% and eager to say hello. It was lovely to see her well again. 

The Gorse Fox spent some time going through the various accounts on the new iPhone and ensuring that they were all active and working. Our Santander account in Apple Wallet had proved to be a problem, but even that got sorted eventually.

The rest of the day has been fairly quiet.

Frozen North

 It was very cold overnight and there was a thick frost on the ground this morning. The car was coasted in a thick layer of frost and the doors needed a good tug to get them open. After the traditional cousins' (always an opportunity to wind up a socialist cousin) the Gorse Fox explained that we were travelling to the North today. Yorkshire? No. Derbyshire? No. We were going to Newbury, which by the Gorse Fox's reckoning is on the dividing line between not and south (that line being the the M4). He also explained that he would take a few lumps of coal in case he needed to barter with any northern folk while there.

Before we set off, the Gorse Fox had to disconnect the old phone and connect the nice new phone to the car. This took longer that seemed necessary but was eventually all sorted. With the phone plugged in and Google Maps fired up, we headed for frozen reaches of east-west passage (M4). It seems that wherever you drive, at present, you hit long term roadworks. While this is immensely frustrating, it is good to see maintenance being performed on the roads. It just seems that it would be so much more convenient if they would clear them out of the way on days when we are travelling.

We arrived at The Craven Arms just after midday. The car park was full of Ford Mustangs as the "club" were on their regular meet-up over lunch. The Skoda seemed out of place.  Denise and Dom arrived soon after (in a Ford Focus). We spent the next four hours enjoying a lovely meal, gallons of coffee, and lots of family chat. 

The Silver Vixen had a chicken carbonara which would have fed all four of us and the Gorse Fox had a venison steak with forester potatoes. The portions were epic.

We had a much quicker run home (maybe because it was downhill) and are now settling down for the evening.

Still sick

 Ellie now has some meds but, so far, there is only marginal improvement and she was clearly disorientated during the night. She, obviously, didn't go to school and spent a very quiet morning at home with Urban-Cub. Pistol Pete came along at lunchtime to collect her and take over her car for the weekend. It's fair to say that we are little concerned.

The day has been crisp and clear. We had a brief burst of activity around lunchtime when we wrapped up the tree fern for the winter and cover the garden furniture. Other than that we have been reading, watching the football, or in the case of the Silver Vixen, browsing Amazon's virtual shelves.

The Gorse Fox's new phone is due in the next hour or so. Hopefully he'll have time to get it set up tonight or first thing in the morning.

Sick

It was sub-zero overnight, for the first time this year. Ellie was dropped off at 7:20. She had had a disturbed night and had a slightly sore throat. She ate a good breakfast and after some Calpol headed off with the Gorse Fox for a day at school (not the Gorse Fox, you understand, he was just the bodyguard).

The morning went by in the usual Thursday whirl with Ocado delivering and then a trip to Sainsbury's. Lady Penelope came along with us as Old Bill wasn't feeling too great after his chemo treatment this week.

The Silver Vixen has developed some soreness where here watch strap sit on her wrist. The Gorse Fox suggested we get some inexpensive silicon straps and try one of the for a while. A pack of five straps arrived at lunchtime and we soon had the strap changed. She hasn't had any discomfort this afternoon, but we'll have to give it time before we can be sure it's a "cure".

Talking of cures, Urban-Cub was called by the school. Ellie had developed a high temperature, was shivering, and was clearly unwell. Urban-Cub collected her and managed to get in to the local surgery to have her checked. After the Scarlett Fever a few weeks ago and the current concern of Strep A infections, we cannot be too careful. She has been given a course of meds which will, hopefully, get her on the mend. It will probably be tomorrow, though, before we really see any improvement.

The Gorse Fox, unexpectedly, received an email from Apple this morning. Apparently his new iPhone has been dispatched and should arrive tomorrow. This was remarkable because even up until yesterday the app was forecast 13th-20th Dec. 

Dinner Dance

It was another chilly start to the day but at least there was little or no wind. The Gorse Fox walked round to perform his usual escort duties for Urban-Cub and Ellie's walk to school. Once home he started the process of returning all the moved furniture to its original locations. 

Being Wednesday, and a fairly normal version thereof, the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen headed off. The traffic was dreadful as the various sets of roadworks seemed to be conspiring to delay us. He dropped the Silver Vixen off for Pilates and then headed on to Worthing for football.

We had a good 6-v-6 game, the Gorse Fox playing for the yellow team. It was fairly even with 1 goal for each team in the first half. The second half, however, saw our goalie gift a clearance straight to the opposition and concede the first of two goals. Try as we might, we couldn't pull any back, so it ended 3-1. Shame. It was a good game.

Traffic was slow again as the Gorse Fox went to collect the Silver Vixen. He decided that he would avoid the  route used this morning and go home via Arundel and Fontwell. This proved to be the right choice as there was nothing to slow us down

We picked Ellie us after school. She came back and got on with her homework before dinner. After dinner she decided to make the most of Alexa and had her playing musical statues and musical chairs before flipping over to some music and watching her reflection in the windows as she disco danced to various songs. She was very good, but the Gorse Fox had to chuckle as she went through her moves oblivious to the fact we were watching.

Temperature has dropped and it was feeling very crisp as the Gorse Fox walked Ellie home just now.

Christmas Play

 A stunningly good night's sleep for the Gorse Fox. It was a cloudless start to the day and the sun climbed above the houses in a very leisurely fashion. The Gorse Fox wandered round to meet up with Urban-Cub and Ellie and escort them to school. As clear as it was, it wasn't as cold as expected.

The morning was spent on admin while the Silver Vixen had a scheduled phonically with a girl friend. Once that was over and it was safe to make some background noise we started to move a lot of furniture. We had a chap coming this afternoon to clean our carpets... courtesy of Darren. Everything that could be lifted was put onto something else, everything that could be moved was moved into the family room or Orangery. Anything that was too big was just moved from its normal location.

This afternoon we had Ellie's Christmas Play. Years 1, 2 and 3 worked together to tell the Nativity story as if relating a tale around a campfire. It was very good and quite clever, working on a level that the kids understood and the adults would appreciate. Ellie was a gorgeous little angel. She really got stuck into the part, dancing and singing as part of the Heavenly Host. Unfortunately, the Gorse Fox was sitting in a spot that meant that Ellie was obscured for much of the performance but the Silver Vixen, Urban-Cub, and Pistol Pete could see her. She has another performance this evening, so she'll be shattered by the time she gets home.

When we got back, Craig turned up with his carpet cleaner. It was size of a Zamboni! He did a quick survey of what was needed then proceeded to do all of the carpets. He congratulated us on how clean they were but it was clear what a good job he had done - with all of Jasper's stains now memories. Excellent job, and certainly a chap we would use again. The carpets will take about 6 hours to dry fully, but we can walk on them with clean footwear until then.

Hosed

 Well the England 3-0 win over Senegal last night was a very satisfying result. It seems a shame that we always spend the first 30 minute passing the ball back and forth across the edge of our own penalty area.

Ellie was dropped off ay about 7:15 this morning and the usual regimen kicked into gear. We dropped her off at school and then went home. The Gorse Fox settled down with breakfast and the Silver Vixen finished getting ready for a day out in Arundel with a friend.

Left unsupervised (Jasper was asleep), the Gorse Fox attacked our carpet "Spot Cleaner". This had a failed hose and was of little use. The Gorse Fox had ordered a new hose last week and watched a YouTube video to see how to replace it. 

A fairly thorough disassembly was required.  Screws were carefully removed and stored in sequence. The main hose was freed up and the soap catheter was snipped off to make room. The pump was removed then the catheter unclipped and removed. Photos were taken so that he knew how to reassemble it when he had finished. Now all he had to do was put it back together.

Well, the Gorse Fox suspects that he may have to apologise to Alexa as he surely taught her some new vocabulary as one of the screws kept dropping into the bottom of the carcass and needed immense patience and dexterity to retrieve each time. Eventually, everything was, more or less, in place. This is when it became clear that the new catheter was too long and needed to be removed and shortened. The process started again. Finally, everything was back in place and the covers were on. The unit was plugged in and it burst into life. Success.

We collected Ellie from school. She had had the final rehearsal for the Christmas play this afternoon. She was quite excited but, more to the point, was ravenous. For the next couple of hours she seemed to eat almost non-stop. She did, however, find time to start on her homework and to do her first big (100 piece) jigsaw puzzle.

Urban-Cub has just collected her.

Back in boots

 It was quite chilly again overnight. For the first time in several weeks the Gorse Fox had to prepare himself for football. He was smart enough to have put his kit bag in the understaffs cupboard. As this is where the heating manifolds are, the kit was nice and warm this morning.

Turning up at Ford, the Gorse Fox saw all of the youth teams shivering by the pitches as they waited for their games to commence. He was glad that he was playing indoors. We had a 6-a-side game today with the Gorse Fox playing for the Orange team. Our goalie started as he meant to carry on by rolling the ball straight to a Yellow team player. 1-0 down inside a minute. Not a good start. After 10 minutes, the Gorse Fox clawed a goal back and for the rest of the half the goals seemed to alternate. Halftime saw a 4-4 score line. Our goalie rolled the ball to the Yellow team at least twice more. The second half saw us move ahead, saw them catch up, saw us Dra ahead agin, then they scored the winner. Final score was 9-8. The Gorse Fox did contribute 2 goals so he was pretty pleased with himself after the layoff.

Back home, it was fairly quiet afternoon watching the France-vs-Poland game in the World Cup. France were deserved winners, 3-1. We have the England-vs-Senegal game this evening.

Grey

Today was bleak, cold, and grey. This is how the Gorse Fox pictures the weather up North, it is not what we expect here. The Gorse Fox had a bit of a lie-in, today. It was nearly 7:20 before he emerged and went seeking coffee.

There was the usual cousins' call at 9:00 and the Gorse Fox used a photo of Sidmouth as this week's backdrop. It was a most enjoyable call with all the usual banter. Today's call had a theme, "the oldest electrical appliance" which still worked. The Gorse Fox hadn't really got anything of any age, but Maggie was able to dig out an old cylinder vacuum cleaner that looked like a WWII torpedo. She plugged it in and it roared into life. Nobody would outdo that, though Tim had an old Black & Decker electric drill from the 60s and came close.

The rest of the day has been spent doing odds and sods, reading, and watching the Netherlands -vs- USA game in the World Cup.

School Fair

 Though the Gorse Fox was already awake and contemplating rising from the bed, it was the Silver Vixen's alarm going off that woke Ellie and brought her padding into our bedroom. Once we were all ready to go downstairs, Ellie charged ahead to get her letter from the Elves and to see where her Elf on the Shelf was hiding this morning. It took her a while, but she eventually found that the Elf had hidden in her cereal packet. After breakfast and morning ablutions, the Gorse Fox took her round to home where Urban-Cub had her home Elf sitting enjoying a cocktail with Barbie. Once all the excitement had died down, the Gorse Fox took Ellie to school... leaving Urban-Cub to sleep for a few hours before going to work.

The morning was moderately quiet. We had a little ancillary shopping to complete and chose Aldi today. We didn't spend much, but we did find a few things in addition to our list items. From there, we went to West Meads so that the Silver Vixen could collect her prescription, then headed home. Once home, the Gorse Fox got on with the accounts to take him up to lunchtime.

After lunch we had some reading time before collect Ellie from school and attending the schools Christmas Fair. Judging by the attendance, the Fair was a great success. Ellie managed to pick up a bag of random sweets, a cake, a glittery bow for her hair, several other bits and pieces, and photo of her meeting Santa.

We brought her home for dinner and ~Darren has just been along to collect her.

Nippy

 It was a bit nippy overnight but the house was comfortably warm when Ellie wandered in at 6:15. She snuggled down for nearly half and hour before heading back to her room to watch the iPad until it was time to get up. The most important event, as far as she was concerned, was to see where her Elf on a Shelf was hiding in our house. As she scanned the house she realised that there was a letter addressed to her from the Elves. This was a source of great excitement.

We went through all the usual morning procedures but just before 8:30 got a call from Urban-Cub. "Was Ellie ready for school?" - "Yes" we replied, so Urban-Cub came round to take her home to see where her home Elf on Shelf was hiding.

Once Ellie had been deposited at school (where Elf on a Shelf was the only topic of pre-class conversation), the Gorse Fox went home for some breakfast before we went off to collect Jasper from his country club. He was very vocal as we brought him home and left some unpleasant smells in the car. He leapt out of his carrier when we got in. He charged round the house making sure we hadn't changed anything, then finally settled down.

With Jasper settled, we headed to Sainsbury's to do the main shop of the week, then settled down back home with our books until it was time for the Gorse Fox to collect Ellie. She will be staying with us again tonight.

Back to Reality

 

We woke early and managed to get most of our packing done before breakfast. The sun took a while to break through the early morning cloud and a thick fog could be seen flowing off the cliffs and down to the sea. 

The Gorse Fox made several trips to load the car before we settled down in the restaurant for coffee and a full cooked breakfast with J&T.

Once we had checked out and finished loading the car and said goodbye to J&T we went for a walk up to the Connaught Gardens above Jacob's Ladder. I provides some wonder view points to the west and down towards Budleigh Salterton.  We wandered around the gardens and viewpoints for a while then, saying goodbye, headed back to the car and set off for home.

The journey home was pretty painless, taking exactly 3 hours. The traffic was kind and the roads free-flowing. It was a most pleasant drive even though we had come through rain, fog, and bright sunshine.

Once home, the Gorse Fox realised that he had not set the heating controls properly. The heating still had 24 hours to go before it would have kicked in. The house was noticeably chilly. The heating was adjusted and kicked in immediately. The problem is, that having underfloor heating, it takes several hours for the temperature to come up to target. The Gorse Fox won't make that mistake again.

Darren dropped Ellie off with us after giving her her dinner. The Silver Vixen is getting her ready for bed now.

Branscombe

It was another gorgeous start to the day. It was chilly, at 4C, but the sky was clear and sun was rolling itself up above the horizon. We met up with J&T over breakfast and made our plans for the day.

Taking our car we headed along the coast to Branscombe. The Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox had visited before, but J&T hadn’t. Last time, we parked up near the Old Forge and walked the footpaths across the fields to the beach. With all the rain w have had recently, we decided this was a non-starter and with the help of Google Maps drove straight to the beach car park.

Unfortunately, the beach cafe was not open so we went for a short walk westwards towards Sidmouth. Tucked under the cliff were some wooden lodges that were available for rent and would afford uninterrupted views across the bay, and the soundscape of the waves 24x7. They would probably be a bit chilly at this time of year.

We turned and headed back, then continued eastwards. The recent rains had swollen the stream that runs into the sea and thus provided a very wet and fast-flowing barrier. We stood and chatted and watched the sea as it approached and retreated ceaselessly. It was immensely soothing. Finally, we tore ourselves away and made our way into the village where we stopped at the Mason’s Arms for a drink before heading back to Sidmouth.

Back at base we left the car and walked into town to enjoy an ice cream. The ice cream was home made and featured a wide range of flavours. The Gorse Fox and the Silver Vixen both chose the clotted cream flavour in waffle cones. These were absolutely huge - but thoroughly delicious.

We went our own ways after the ice cream. J&T had a bit more shopping todo, while the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox headed back to hotel. We’ll meet up again in the bar before dinner.

Killerton and Back

After the glorious start to the morning we nudged in a lovely breakfast that would set us up for the day. We set off with J&T to visit a National Trust property that we had not previously explored.

Killerton lies near Broadclyst, north of Exeter. It was the home of the Acland family for several hundred years. The first Baronet Acland being ennobled for his support of Charles the first. They accumulated land through auspicious marriages and it was once said that you could walk from the north Devon Coast to the south without leaving their land. Even now the lands stretch to some 6000 acres.

The house was a little gem. Small, by stately home standards, but quite liveable by modern standards. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas with all of the baubles handmade by the staff. There was also a puzzle for any kids - they had to find a bee in each of the rooms. The volunteer thought there were 6 to find… but the Gorse Fox managed to find 7.

Leaving the house we grabbed a coffee in the kitchens. We picked our time well as we seemed to start a rush. All of the tables were soon taken and people were having to sit outside. When we finished our coffee we went for slow and gentle walk in the grounds. There is a spot, near their War Memorial, with a view across the county as far as Dartmoor 20 miles away. It was spectacular as the clouds repainted the shadows and opened up different views as the Marchand across the distant vista.

No trip to the National Trust is complete without a dalliance in their shop. We did finally escape and headed back to Sidmouth.

The sun was still out and we all fancied a walk into town. We split up as we hit the shops and the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox picked up a few bits before continuing the walk to the eastern end of the Esplanade. The sun was slipping inexorably to the horizon as we headed back. We’ll all meet up again in the bar before dinner.

Lovely start to the day

 

What a glorious start to the day. Hopefully, this sort of weather will persist for a few days.

Devon

We had decided that we would make an early start. Traffic should be light and we could be in Sidmouth before noon. We had packed yesterday afternoon so there was no real rush this morning. We were in the car and on our way by 8:45.

As predicted we saw very little traffic. The weather was a little wild at first, but as we headed west it began to clear. As usual, we stopped at Bridport for a comfort break and some coffee, but were soon on our way for the last 30 miles.

The doorman at the hotel ushered into a prime parking spot and suggested that we check in and get comfortable, leaving our luggage in the car until our rooms are ready at 3pm. Sounded good to us… so we checked in and made our way to the lounge where we had a refreshing drink and a sandwich. The hotel is beautifully decorated in preparation for Christmas and as the Silver Vixen said, it looks like a film set.

J&T turned up soon after we had settled down. We chatted over our collective snacks then decided that a walk was needed. We wandered in to town and somehow managed to find ourselves trapped in the knitwear triangle (Seasalt, Crew Clothing, and Cotton Traders). Like an escape room, there is a trick to getting out. The trick seemed to be based on the purchase of goods. We managed. We the stopped in the department store. The Gorse Fox was looking for a particular type of sweater, but was unsuccessful. The Silver Vixen, however, spotted their leather jackets and mercilessly bullied the Gorse Fox into buying one . The jacket is rather splendid and must contain the hides from a small herd. It’s certainly heavy enough.

Back in the hotel, we are now settled in our room and unpacked. We’ll meet up with J&T in the bar before dinner.

Away

The Gorse Fox had his usual cousins' call this morning. The backdrop on the call was the inside of Chichester Cathedral and the Gorse Fox played Gregorian Chant to set the mood. The theme today wa keeping warm. Tim had a series of hats that he switched as the call began, Sarah had a lovely Astrakhan hat. When challenged, the Gorse Fox said he didn't worry about specific clothes, he just threw another socialist on the fire - that way they had at least some purpose and value to the community.

Later in the morning, without any fuss, we managed to get Jasper into his carry case and took him across to the cat whisperer for a few day R&R. It's funny, but as soon as we have dropped him, the Gorse Fox feels as if the holiday has started. The afternoon was spent selecting, down-selecting, then further down-selecting before packing. All is now packed and we are ready for an early start. With luck, the journey should only take about 3 hours and it would be nice to there around lunch time in order to make the most of the day.

Only 1 month

 Ellie, realising that today is the 25th is excited to inform us that it is only one month until Christmas... and that she will be helping mummy put up the decorations next week. The Gorse Fox wished her luck and said that we will probably start on ours on the 24th. There's no sense in overdoing it.

Once the Gorse Fox had done the usual walk to school and had coffee and breakfast he popped round to the surgery to give them a copy of the letter from the hospital regarding the Silver Vixen's procedure. The rest of the day has been fairly quiet, allowing time to sit with some tea and a book in the warmth of the sun-baked orangery.

The Gorse Fox collected Ellie from school and she settled down with the Silver Vixen to do some craft projects while the Gorse Fox prepared her dinner so that she could eat before Pistol Pete came to collect her for the weekend.

Procedure

 Ellie kept herself amused when she woke at 6:30 and didn't venture into our room until 7:00. We went through the usual morning process and Urban-Cub turned up just in time to walk her to school.

The Gorse Fox had ordered a new battery for the DashCam and this arrived earlier in the week. The Gorse Fox had taken the camera apart to see how the battery was changed and decided it was a fiddly nightmare. Two Hats had offered help and so we spent a quiet hour muttering under our breath as the new battery was installed and the camera put back together. Much to our amazement, it worked. The Gorse Fox will refit it in the car when we returned from our forthcoming trip, making do with the spare camera that is installed at present.

At lunchtime we headed in to St Richard's. The Silver Vixen was booked for her "procedure". The Gorse Fox took her through to the treatment centre but then had to leave her to it. Whilst the procedure would only take 30-45 mins, she would then spend time in recovery until they deemed it safe for her to travel home. The Gorse Fox went in to Chichester to kill several hours.

He started by grabbing a coffee in a nice little coffee shop and whilst there managed to finish his latest book. As he left, the heavens opened and rain set in for the rest of the afternoon. He ducked into Crew Clothing and bought a new sweatshirt then headed back to the car so that it wouldn't get too wet. Walking back into town along East Street he passed a jeweller and saw a necklace that was ideal for the Silver Vixen - 15 minutes later it was gift-wrapped and snuggling in the bottom of a fancy bag. This too was ferried back to the car for storage.

Shopping done, the Gorse Fox wandered back into town and spent a little quiet time in the Cathedral before going round to the chiropodist for his scheduled appointment. As he left the chiropodist, his phone rang. It was the hospital to say that the Silver Vixen was ready for collection. 

The procedure had gone smoothly and no problems had been found. We now have to wait for correspondence from Southampton Hospital to see when they can intervene.

Living on the Edge

 Life in retirement is always a pleasure but there are times when we have to push the envelope and do something that is way outside our normal comfort zone. So it was that today, after the usual school escort service, the Gorse Fox and Silver Vixen went to Sainsbury's. No, really. We did, and yet it is Wednesday, not Thursday. It just shows that you can teach an old fox new tricks.

The rest of the morning was spent with some admin, chasing down the documentation for the extended warranty taken out on the Skoda while the Silver Vixen had a pressing engagement with an iron.

Jasper was intent on sharing today. The trouble is that it was his food he wanted to share and, kindly, threw up on our bed and our bedroom carpet. We managed to get in an hour or so with our books before the Gorse Fox went to collect Ellie. 

Cooling Down

After the exceptionally mild autumn and the recent heavy rains we saw a bit of a change overnight with the temperature dropping down to values more typical of this time of year. It was bright and crisp (though not frosty) when the Gorse Fox went to escort Ellie and the Urban-Cub to school. It was a day where the coats needed to be zipped up.

Once home, the Gorse Fox had some breakfast while the Silver Vixen started on a cleaning spree in the bathrooms. He got on with some admin and then prepared this week's shopping list. We are doing the whole shop ourselves, no Ocado this week. As we are going away for a few days, the Ocado delivery seemed overkill.

The Gorse Fox watched some of the World Cup games as he pottered. None of the teams really caught his eye, so far, today.

Birthday

 Today was the Silver Vixen's birthday. Normally we would do something special, but this year we have the angiogram booked for later this week and the trip to Sidmouth booked for the weekend. We would have fairly normal day at home, rather than chance picking up some sort of virus or bacterium in the wider world.

Ellie was dropped off at 7:15 and we sorted her out ready for school. By the time it was time to go, the rain had progressed to deluge proportions. The Gorse Fox insisted that the Silver Vixen stayed at home and the Gorse Fox managed the school run. The morning was spent drinking coffee and reading the papers before the Silver Vixen got the urge to vacuum and the Gorse Fox caught up on some chores.

This afternoon was occupied by the England-vs-Iran game from the World Cup. This was a most satisfactory 6-2 win, finishing just after we went to collect Ellie from school. She hadn't been home with us for more than 15 minutes before Urban-Cub and Darren turned up to give the Silver Vixen her birthday presents and to collect Ellie.

Roast

 It's Sunday, and as the Gorse Fox is avoiding indoor football until the Silver Vixen's procedure has been performed, it meant that he had a very leisurely start to the day. This included a full English breakfast that was cooked in the air fryer... and was delicious.

The rest of the morning (what was left of it, given that we were slow to get going) was just faffing about. Soon after midday, The Gorse Fox had decided on the procedure he would follow for the preparation of dinner. With that confirmed he could disappear in to the Orangery for some reading.

Dinner was roast pork (with the best crackling that the Gorse Fox hs ever made). Whilst the pork was cooked in the small oven, the roast potatoes and roasted carrots were both prepared in the air fryer. Overall, it was a huge success.

We have just received Urban-Cub's schedule for the week, Currently it is not certain that Ellie will be with us overnight at all... but there are still a couple of nights that may be in the balance.

Visits

 Ellie was awake soon after 6:30 but played quietly in her room until the Gorse Fox started moving about at 7:30. Very civilised. She had some breakfast and then, having dressed, insisted on playing school teachers. As a result, the Gorse Fox had to write out a page of "number sentences" for her to complete. the approves of games like this and is just waiting for her to ask about spreadsheets. Urban-Cub popped along to pick her up and we prepared for Betty and Barney Rubble to visit.

Before their visit, however, Cousteau-Cub and the Coventry Hobbit turned up. The primary purpose was to give the Silver Vixen her birthday presents but it was also a chance to see the Coventry Hobbit's new Mercedes. He gave us a demo of how the roof folded away into the boot. It was like watching origami, and was immensely clever. They didn't stay for long and planned to go on to se Urban-Cub.

No sooner had they left than Betty and Barney arrived. We settled down with some coffee and biscuits and started th catch-up on health and family news. The former subject seemed to dominate the whole day for both families. It is clear that we are far better served by our doctors' surgery down here than they are in Odiham. They pointed out that for a non-urgent appointment they had been offered a slot in 16 weeks. That is outrageous.

We drove into Bognor Regis for lunch at Mustard's. There were two large parties at other tables. Even though we were tucked away it was quite loud in there and made conversation challenging. It's a shame because the food was excellent.

The Gorse Fox started the crispy pork belly shown on the photo, whilst the Silver Vixen and Barney had Salmon Gravadlax, and Betty had a butternut soup.

For the main course the Gorse Fox and Barney had fish and chips, the Silver Vixen had sea bream, and Betty had supreme of chicken.

We didn't bother with a sweet course as we had some blackberry and apple pie waiting in fridge at home. We had a quiet afternoon chatting over cups of tea and bowls for blackberry & apple with custard and cream.

Better and Barney left around 17:30 and the Silver Vixen and tidied away and settled down for the evening.

Firmware

 It should have been a quiet start to the day. There was no need for the alarm this morning, but as it happened, Jasper was wide awake by 6:30 and whilst the Gorse Fox tried to ignore him, by 6:50 he decided that enough was enough and got up.

As it is "Children in Need" day today, Ellie was able to go to school in her pyjamas today. Needless to say, this was a moment of stress as she tried to choose between her various sets of PJs and the shoes that she would wear with them. Eventually, decisions were made and we headed to school.

The Gorse Fox had a few chores this morning and then headed off to the shops for some cat litter. The Silver Vixen was, meanwhile, at the hairdresser. Who the Gorse Fox got back he returned to the problematic DashCam. He isn't quite sure what he did differently this time, but on the second attempt he actually managed to get the firmware to update to the correct level. Now he just has to wait for the new battery and hopefully everything will be hunky-dory again.

We collected Ellie from school and filtered back through the cake sale. All of the funds were destined for "Children in Need" so we donated generously for the cakes we had selected. The rest of the evening has been pretty quiet, despite Ellie being here overnight tonight.

SDcard

 Ellie padded into our room just after 7:00. The Gorse Fox was already wide awake and left Ellie to get into bed with the Silver Vixen while he went to wash and dress. She was in a bouncy mood this morning and very eager to get to school. The Gorse Fox hopes this lasts throughout her education!

Once dropped at school, the Silver Vixen and Gorse Fox fell back into our usual Thursday pattern... waiting for Ocado to deliver then going to Sainsbury's for the top-up. Now, this gave the Gorse Fox the time to reset the DashCam that Two Hats had lent to him, yesterday. Once this was done, he re-inserted the microSDCard that his own DashCam had claimed to be corrupt in the new DashCam... and the trip to and from Sainsbury's was dutifully recorded without incident. This suggests to the Gorse Fox that the problem lies with the DashCam unit, not the card. He ordered a new battery for his own DashCam. We will see if that provides the basis to a solution.

After some basic weekly admin, the Gorse Fox retired to his book for the rest of the afternoon.

Between showers

The Gorse Fox had to post a birthday card on behalf of the Silver Vixen. He put on all his waterproofs and headed out into the rain. Within 100 yards the rain stopped. He was somewhat overdressed!

He walked on past the lake and noticed how full it was now looking, considering it had been almost dry a month or so back.

The rain held off until he got home - thank goodness.

Angel

 It has been another very wet day but having said that, it was actually dry when we walked to and from school with Ellie. She had slept through until she heard the Gorse Fox moving about this morning. He had get on the move a bit sharpish as Urban-Cub was dropping off the second bottle of her antibiotics on her wy through to work.

The morning was filled with chores and a review of the latest consultation documents for the A27 Arundel upgrade. Review completed, the Gorse Fox filled in his survey responses.

The saga with the Dashcam seems to be moving forward. The manufacturer has concluded that the battery is failing and needs replacing. This could be done by the Gorse Fox (if he was handy with a soldering iron - which he is not) or sent away to be fixed and 3 times the cost. The Gorse Fox bumped into Two Hats. Two Hats is handy with a soldering iron. He said he would sort it out and to order the battery. Meanwhile he lent a spare Dashcam that we could use until everything is fixed.

Ellie was delighted when the Gorse Fox went to collect her from school. They are preparing for Christmas Play and she wanted to be an angel. There would be only one angel from her class. She was chosen... and we haven't heard the end of it all afternoon.

Figures

 Heavy rain had set in overnight and was forecast to last until the early afternoon. If the Gorse Fox needed an excuse not to play football, this would have been a contender. He didn't however, need an excuse - he had already decided not to play this week in an effort to semi-isolate prior to the Silver Vixen's procedure next week.

It was fairly peaceful day. The Gorse Fox spent some time with the spreadsheets that track our energy usage. Not only was it time to file the latest month's figures, it was also about time that he did some additional analyses of trends. It was heartening to see the trends are down on last year. Less electricity, less gas, and less water. A degree of caution should be sounded as, so far, the weather has been very mild.

We did a bit of reading after lunch and then went round to the school to collect Ellie. She will be staying with us overnight tonight and tomorrow night.

The Gorse Fox made a very successful version of "Hunter's Chicken" in the air fryer this evening. Chicken thighs dusted in paprika and garlic powder, then stuffed with cheddar before being wrapped in bacon. This took 24 minutes at 175C in the air fryer.

School run

 With Ellie now feeling a lot better, and no longer infectious, we were back on the school run today. The Gorse Fox wandered round to provide the guard of honour on her way to school and this afternoon the Silver Vixen joined him for the return.

The rest of the day was very relaxed. Some chores during the first part of the morning, some admin, and then  some research and some reading.

Though the new phone, ordered over the weekend, isn't due until the week before Christmas, the Gorse Fox was interested that it has no SIM slot. It only supports an eSIM. The question that he was trying to answer is "how do we get the initial eSIM installed?" It didn't take long to find a YouTube video that showed the process, and it really could not be simpler. Now he just has to be patient.

The Gorse Fox prepared a curry for Ellie this evening. It's something that she seems to really like and polishes off in no time. Now fed, she has gone home with Darren as Urban-Cub is on a late shift.

Getting to grips

 It was a lazy start, the Gorse Fox not emerging until 7:45.Coffee made, he settled down with the online papers until the Silver Vixen pottered downstairs.

With the new Air Fryer in situ, it seemed only right to try a breakfast treat. So it was that the Gorse Fox used a heavy glass to make an indentation in a couple of slices of bread and broke an egg into each. 8 minutes later he had a delicious egg on toast. Attempt number 1 was a success.

The Gorse Fox would research some more and try to use it for dinner.

Much of the rest of the day was spent looking at YouTube videos for hints about using air fryers, Several recipes were copied into the Gorse Fox's library for future use and a couple of ideas were seeded for dinner.

Whilst all of this was going on, the Gorse Fox may have (accidentally) ordered a new iPhone. The particular model ordered is unlikely to arrive before mid-December but should be a major upgrade in terms of the camera function, speed, and overall capabilities. It is also the first phone that the Gorse Fox will have that is solely eSIM (no physical SIM is supported).

Dinner this evening saw the air fryer pressed into use. A Sainsbury's lamb dish and separate roast, diced potatoes were cooked in 30 minutes. It was delicious and significantly quicker than the main oven(s).

Friar or Fryer

 The Gorse Fox was up at 7:30, late for him. A coffee kept him company while he read the news and waited for the Silver Vixen to wake up and claim her morning tea. If Jasper hadn't leapt on her, she probably would have lasted an extra hour or so, but Jasper ensured she was mobile soon after 8:00.

The Gorse Fox had his usual call with the cousins. Today it was the Birthday of two cousins. Chris, in Turkey, and Claire, in Canada. 

Though we had a smaller contingent than usual, we sang Happy Birthday to Chris during the call - and Tim wore a Turkish hat to celebrate. (Frightening really).

We head from Urban-Cub. Ellie was a lot better this morning and the Gorse Fox went round to give her the Poppy-appeal wrist bands that he had collected from the school. She was certainly very chirpy and seemed almost like her normal self.

Back home there were several chores to complete before the Gorse Fox settled down for some filing and some genealogical research. It was in during this research that the courier arrived with the Gorse Fox's new air fryer. He looks forward to getting to grips with it, though it is unlikely to break even, financially, for quite a while yet! He did use it this evening to cook the Silver Vixen's salmon and the Gorse Fox's "ready meal" frozen curry. It worked pretty well, but timing need to be adjusted slightly. The Gorse Fox had to struggle with the choice between "fryer" and, given his background, "friar". Actually, as long as it tastes good, it doesn't really matter.

Deliver-rew

 After last night's (or should we say this morning's) bed time, it was 8:45 before the Gorse Fox emerged from the duvet. He might have stayed longer but Jasper was getting noisy and was clearly affronted that we had not yet got up to let him out.

The phone range while the Gorse Fox was in the shower. The Gorse Fox needed to go and collect the specialised prescription that had been written up for Ellie. This could not be filled at a local pharmacy, and so the Gorse Fox found himself driving back to the hospital. Once the prescription was handed in, he only about 40 minutes to wait before he was back on the road. Ellie was clearly unwell still, but better than last night. Hopefully, the medicine will help her turn the corner.

The rest of the day was moderately quiet. The Gorse Fox spent some time trying to refresh the firmware on the Dashcam. This was proving problematic. It was starting the process, but it never seemed to complete successfully. He'll try again tomorrow when he might have a little more patience.

Oh Dear

 Ellie was still too unwell to go to school. She was dropped off here first thing but Cousteau-Cub came along to look after her till early afternoon. She took Ellie back to Urban-Cub's house.

We followed the usual Thursday agenda of shopping then returned home for. some lunch and the Gorse Fox to do the accounts. Early afternoon, Cousteau-Cub dropped Ellie back with us (Cousteau-Cub had to go for her Covid jab). The Gorse Fox took Ellie upstairs to keep her away from the Silver Vixen and we payed teachers for an hour or so until Urban-Cub got back from work to collect her.

Ellie was getting no better and it was decided that it was time to dial 111. Urban-Cub had a long chat with them and then with a local pharmacist (who was as much use as a chocolate fireguard).

Mid evening the phone rang. Could the Gorse Fox take Urban-Cub and Ellie to A&E - Ellie was burning up with fever and being sick. So it was that our little troop zipped off to St Richard's for the next 5 or 6 hours. Because of various hospital protocols the Silver Vixen could stay with Ellie throughout, but the Gorse Fox had to sit a wait in A&E Reception (and what an eye opener that was).

Eventually Ellie was seen and deemed well enough to go home.  The Urban-Cub and Ellie wandered back to reception and Ellie ran to the Gorse Fox and gave hime a big hug. It was the early hours by the time we got home... but sleep was not long coming.